Mishawaka corrects school calendar 'mistake'

Winter break extended through Jan. 2 for New Year's Day.

Winter break extended through Jan. 2 for New Year's Day.

December 14, 2005|ERIN MILLER Tribune Staff Writer

MISHAWAKA -- School City of Mishawaka students have a reason to celebrate this morning after school board members voted Tuesday night to extend the district's winter break an extra day. "We really just made a mistake," board member Michael Wojtysiak said of the original school calendar that sent students back to class on Jan. 2, without a day off to observe New Year's Day. The holiday falls on a Sunday in 2006. Wojtysiak, the father of three Mishawaka High School students, heard questions about the schedule from his children and other students. "We will leave it up to the administration to decide how to make up that day," Wojtysiak said as he made the motion to close the schools Jan. 2. School City of Mishawaka spokeswoman Shirley Ross said some local residents wondered how students who rely on Transpo would get to school that day, as the bus service planned to close Jan. 2 to observe the holiday. District officials were planning to use district buses for those students, Ross said. She said the decision to close school an extra day was not mentioned before Tuesday night's meeting, adding that school officials have not yet selected a makeup day. Other area schools taking winter break during the same two-week period also included Jan. 2 as a day off of school. Winter breaks in the Penn-Harris-Madison and South Bend Community school corporations are scheduled to begin Dec. 26, with classes resuming Jan. 9. Though many government offices plan to close their doors Jan. 2 in observance of New Year's Day, teacher contracts do not necessarily include that holiday, Penn-Harris-Madison spokeswoman Teresa Carroll told the Tribune. "(Teachers) work 183 days," Carroll said. "They have to have that number of days throughout the year." Most school calendars are set each spring for the following school year; P-H-M trustees and teachers reached an agreement this year for a two-year calendar. Carroll said most parents don't seem to have a preference for the date of class breaks as long as they know far enough in advance to plan family vacations to fit within the school's time frame. One event parents had little time to plan for this year: the University of Notre Dame's trip to the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2, something Wojtysiak mentioned when amending this year's school calendar. "There's a lot of football games going on that day," he said with a laugh. Staff writer Erin Miller: emiller@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6553